From Kelly:
I always think we're pretty good about keeping up this blog and then someone mentions how I need to update it and I realize it's been a month. Sorry about that! Here goes a quick rundown of what we've been up to lately. Warning: the short answer is 'same ol' same ol'. . .'
A few weeks ago we went to my friend Susan's wedding in Wichita, Kansas. Our trip was pretty quick, but it was a good one. We had never been to Wichita before, so it was good to look around and explore a bit. On our way to the wedding itself, I through Mike for a bit of a loop because when he came to pick me up at the entrance to the hotel (from getting the car at the parking garage), I was standing there with four perfect strangers and ushering them into our car. What happened was that while I was waiting for him, I heard this group talking about how they were so worried they were going to miss the wedding because the cab they had called had not arrived. Well, I put two and two together and asked if they were going to Susan's wedding; they were, and since the wedding was starting in 15 minutes, without a cab in sight, I said they were welcome to cram into our car. Our little rented Impala held everyone pretty well and we made four new friends. . . :)
The wedding was great. Susan wore three different dresses throughout the night-- a traditional one with a long train and veil for the ceremony, a Vietnamese dress with headpiece for dinner, and a gorgeous silk and velvet dress for dancing. Dinner was an eight course Vietnamese feast (mostly seafood) that was served family style, so that was fun. After dinner there was karaoke and a seven-piece funk band. Eventhough it was a thunderstorm outside and raining cats and dogs, it was a great night. The next day, we finished our little mini-vacation with room service breakfast and then tried to go shop around Wichita, only to find that there really isn't much open in Wichita on a Sunday morning. . .
The following weekend, we played trivia on Thursday night, but were not too successful, especially considering there was a whole round with trivia about Brazil. . . On Friday, I went to a Rockies game with Carter's real estate management club, which was fun except a bit cold.
This weekend has been pretty laid back-- on Friday we hung out and watched movies since it was rainy and cold out. Then, yesterday we went to the modern art museum with Alex and Katey and then played pool together and spent time talking. They have become such good friends of ours, so it was great to spend time together. Last night we had Beth over and played some games, which was really fun. Today, we saw the new X-men movie and then had dinner with Mike's extended family, whom we hadn't seen since the wedding, so that was a great time of catching up.
Work has been going well for both of us. Mike was in DC for a week a couple of weeks ago. In fact, he left the day after we got back from Wichita. I wished I could have gone with him, but unfortunately I just don't have the vacation time. My work was pretty stressful for a couple of weeks because I was in charge of a big project. Luckily, it all went okay and work has been much less stressful since then. We are moving our offices to another floor of the building this weekend, so when I go in this Monday I'll be a new spot. I'm actually pretty excited to be in a new place, because where I am now is near the copy room and kitchen and it's pretty distracting. It will be nice to have a change.
Anyway, not a whole lot going on here, but I guess that's a good thing in a way. I hope all is well with all of you guys. Talk to you soon!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Highs and Lows
From Mike:
Aside from working, eating, sleeping, and working out, not a lot has happened in the past two weeks. Here are the highlights (and lowlights?):
Last Monday, we went to Heather and Daniel’s house for dinner and a little quality time. While Heather and Kelly stayed upstairs and chatted, Daniel and I were in the basement playing Resident Evil 5 on the Playstation 3, which is actually a fairly decent game! I didn’t realize until later that evening that I completely failed to live up to my Lent promise of not playing Playstation 3 for 40 days…whoops! God shall surely smite me for that one…
Saturday we drove down to the Glenmoor Country Club in Cherry Hills for the wedding reception of our friends Greg and Misty. They had the ceremony in Maui, so we were glad they decided to cater to their less affluent friends and family by having the reception a little closer to home. We enjoyed the cocktail hour and open bar, but the best part was the dinner. They served us Filet Oscar which was amazing. I had never heard of it before, but the filet mignon, crab meat, and asparagus drenched in béarnaise sauce was pretty much the most delicious food combination I have ever eaten in my entire life!
On a much more serious note, some of you may know that our good friend Beth’s uncle, Randy, has been fighting cancer for awhile now. Well, sadly, his fight ended Tuesday night. Please be in prayer for Beth and her family as they cope with their loss. It’s always hard to lose a loved one, especially when it’s well before they’re time, so our thoughts and prayers are with them.
That’s pretty much it…God bless you all this weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, His precious gift of salvation, and His victory over sin and death!
Aside from working, eating, sleeping, and working out, not a lot has happened in the past two weeks. Here are the highlights (and lowlights?):
Last Monday, we went to Heather and Daniel’s house for dinner and a little quality time. While Heather and Kelly stayed upstairs and chatted, Daniel and I were in the basement playing Resident Evil 5 on the Playstation 3, which is actually a fairly decent game! I didn’t realize until later that evening that I completely failed to live up to my Lent promise of not playing Playstation 3 for 40 days…whoops! God shall surely smite me for that one…
Saturday we drove down to the Glenmoor Country Club in Cherry Hills for the wedding reception of our friends Greg and Misty. They had the ceremony in Maui, so we were glad they decided to cater to their less affluent friends and family by having the reception a little closer to home. We enjoyed the cocktail hour and open bar, but the best part was the dinner. They served us Filet Oscar which was amazing. I had never heard of it before, but the filet mignon, crab meat, and asparagus drenched in béarnaise sauce was pretty much the most delicious food combination I have ever eaten in my entire life!
On a much more serious note, some of you may know that our good friend Beth’s uncle, Randy, has been fighting cancer for awhile now. Well, sadly, his fight ended Tuesday night. Please be in prayer for Beth and her family as they cope with their loss. It’s always hard to lose a loved one, especially when it’s well before they’re time, so our thoughts and prayers are with them.
That’s pretty much it…God bless you all this weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, His precious gift of salvation, and His victory over sin and death!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Birthday Week Extravaganza
From Kelly:
Well, this past week was a good one—lots of birthday fun for Mike and very little work for me! On Sunday we kicked off the week (after a nice hike near Estes) with dinner with my dad, Crystal and Lorene. We went to Outback Steakhouse and had a wonderful dinner.
Monday, I had the day off for comp time so I did a bunch of fun stuff—went to lunch with Katey, met with Allegra, and met Bryan for some shopping! Bryan and I went to Guitar Center and picked out an acoustic guitar for Mike’s birthday present. Bryan came home with me and we surprised Mike (who was working from home) with his gift. He was really excited and immediately started playing. Bryan taught him a new song and he’s been downloading songs off the internet since then—so much that his fingers are raw from too much playing!
On Tuesday I had another comp day and this one I spent relaxing a bit more—I slept late. But then I had to go to the dentist. I wanted him to look at this tooth I have that occasionally causes shooting pain. After looking at it and doing some tests he was totally perplexed because the tooth isn’t feeling sensation and yet there is no reason for the nerve to be dying or indication on the x-ray that that’s fading away. Hmmm. He basically said to ignore it and we’d check it again in a couple of months. All I can say is I sure hope I don’t need a root canal!! But it hasn’t been hurting since then, so I’m hopeful. When I got home I made Mike a “birthday eve” dinner of a delicious bean soup and we had Beth over to play Settlers of Catan, which we are all now slightly obsessed with.
Wednesday was Mike’s birthday!! We both stayed home from work (I was still on comp time) and tried to enjoy the day, although it turned out to be a bit of a disaster. . .It all started when we woke up that morning. I had made Mike a birthday breakfast in the crockpot and was really looking forward to it being all ready to go when we woke up. Unfortunately all we woke up to was a half-cooked soggy egg mess. The crockpot had turned off for some reason and had totally ruined breakfast! Yuck! Then we decided to go hit some golf balls because the weather seemed pretty nice. Well, by the time we got out to the driving range the wind had picked up and it was freezing. After hitting balls, we went to lunch, which was so-so and then went home to watch a movie—only to find that the playstation wasn’t working! Luckily the playstation eventually kicked in and agreed to play the movies so we were able to relax for a bit. That night, we went to dinner with the family and had to wait for 45 minutes for a table I had already called ahead for. We got home and cut Mike’s cake that we had ordered from Dairy Queen only to cut into a big hair that was in the cake—gross!! The final straw was that during the cake celebration, Floyd noticed some water leaking from under our sink—a pipe was loose and there was a big soggy mess warping the wood. Argh!!
Thursday I was all prepared to go back to the grind, only to get a special treat—SNOW DAY!! Mike and I relaxed and watched movies all day and were generally very lazy. It was great!
On Friday I really did have to go back to work, but it turned out okay because my boss took us out to an extended celebration lunch of filet minon, sushi, and mojitos! After lunch, she let us go home a few hours early. Not a bad day!
Saturday we finished off the birthday celebration with a couple of different parties. First, we went bowling with some friends at Splitz lanes in Westminster. Even though I am a horrible bowler, it was a great group of people and a really fun time. After bowling, we met up with over 20 people who had driven from all over to meet us at the Rio in Boulder. We had a very yummy dinner and some fabulous margaritas. Yum!! After the Rio, we met up with another group of friends and two of them were having birthdays too, so it was an extended celebration.
So, last week was fabulous but, unfortunately, this week it’s back to the grind. Oh well, I guess not every week can be birthday week!
Friday, March 20, 2009
A Green Beer Substitute
From Mike:
It seems like the month of March is flying by! I hope you’re all enjoying the unseasonably warm weather…we definitely haven’t gotten outside as much as we had hoped this month, but I did get to go snowboarding a couple of times, which was great.
Earlier this month we drove to Wheatridge to attend an anniversary celebration for Kelly’s old youth pastor, Tom Coffan. By the grace of God, he has been working with youth for 40 years! Having worked with youth for a number of years myself, I have no idea how he has the patience, willpower, or stamina required to work in youth ministry for so long. God bless him!
Last week we went to see a Rocky Mountain Rage hockey game with some good friends of ours, and while we weren’t that interested in the game itself, it was a great time to catch up and enjoy each other’s company. A few fights broke out too, (among the hockey players) which made the evening that much more enjoyable.
On Sunday, we drove downtown to join in on the St. Patrick’s Day festivities for the Running of the Green. We met up with some friends who ran the race earlier that morning and had a few free beers while watching the masses dance to an Irish band playing a few cultural favorites. Although we wanted to keep with the spirit of the holiday, we couldn’t find any restaurant serving corned beef and hash, so we ate Mexican food instead.
Last week I went to the doctor with kidney stone-esque symptoms, but luckily was not feeling any pain. The urologist said it was probably a kidney stone, since I have had them in the past, but I was confused why I couldn’t feel it. So I went in for a CT scan on Monday and will find out what it is/was next week. In the meantime, the symptoms I had last week are gone, and if it was a stone, I definitely passed it. So that’s exciting. It’s times like these when I’m reminded to drink lots of water!
Much to Kelly’s excitement, Tuesday brought our last dodgeball game. Unfortunately, we played against the one team who hates our guts. This team, whom we had played twice already, just couldn’t seem to get along with our scrappy little team of neophytes, and once again, we spent the entire game arguing with them about the rules, who was out, and who was cheating. It was not very much fun, and we lost, but we made ourselves feel better by going to a nearby bar in search of a green beer. This bar, however, was seriously lacking in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit, because nary a green beer was found! When we got home that evening, Kelly treated herself to a tall glass of green milk instead.
On Wednesday, my parents invited us over for a home-cooked meal and we spent the evening chatting and devouring corned beef, potatoes, fruit salad, cornbread and cookies and ice cream…it was delightful!
So that’s pretty much it. I hope you’re all well and drinking plenty of water. Until next time!
It seems like the month of March is flying by! I hope you’re all enjoying the unseasonably warm weather…we definitely haven’t gotten outside as much as we had hoped this month, but I did get to go snowboarding a couple of times, which was great.
Earlier this month we drove to Wheatridge to attend an anniversary celebration for Kelly’s old youth pastor, Tom Coffan. By the grace of God, he has been working with youth for 40 years! Having worked with youth for a number of years myself, I have no idea how he has the patience, willpower, or stamina required to work in youth ministry for so long. God bless him!
Last week we went to see a Rocky Mountain Rage hockey game with some good friends of ours, and while we weren’t that interested in the game itself, it was a great time to catch up and enjoy each other’s company. A few fights broke out too, (among the hockey players) which made the evening that much more enjoyable.
On Sunday, we drove downtown to join in on the St. Patrick’s Day festivities for the Running of the Green. We met up with some friends who ran the race earlier that morning and had a few free beers while watching the masses dance to an Irish band playing a few cultural favorites. Although we wanted to keep with the spirit of the holiday, we couldn’t find any restaurant serving corned beef and hash, so we ate Mexican food instead.
Last week I went to the doctor with kidney stone-esque symptoms, but luckily was not feeling any pain. The urologist said it was probably a kidney stone, since I have had them in the past, but I was confused why I couldn’t feel it. So I went in for a CT scan on Monday and will find out what it is/was next week. In the meantime, the symptoms I had last week are gone, and if it was a stone, I definitely passed it. So that’s exciting. It’s times like these when I’m reminded to drink lots of water!
Much to Kelly’s excitement, Tuesday brought our last dodgeball game. Unfortunately, we played against the one team who hates our guts. This team, whom we had played twice already, just couldn’t seem to get along with our scrappy little team of neophytes, and once again, we spent the entire game arguing with them about the rules, who was out, and who was cheating. It was not very much fun, and we lost, but we made ourselves feel better by going to a nearby bar in search of a green beer. This bar, however, was seriously lacking in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit, because nary a green beer was found! When we got home that evening, Kelly treated herself to a tall glass of green milk instead.
On Wednesday, my parents invited us over for a home-cooked meal and we spent the evening chatting and devouring corned beef, potatoes, fruit salad, cornbread and cookies and ice cream…it was delightful!
So that’s pretty much it. I hope you’re all well and drinking plenty of water. Until next time!
Monday, March 9, 2009
It's Been Awhile
From Kelly:
Well the fact that this blog is the first since February 2nd should teach you something: I am much better about nagging Mike to do something than I am about doing it when it's my turn (this phenomenon also applies when it's my turn to empty the litter box).
I will try to sum up the past few weeks fairly briefly, though, so that our loyal readers (aka parents) don't start reading only Mike's posts. . .
I guess I can start by telling you what I've been doing lately and that is, in a word: Working. A lot. All the time. It's really very un-fun. Especially since I thought I was getting paid for overtime and found out last week that in fact I am not. So, all this extra time (60-70 hour weeks) is just volunteer work. Yay. Somehow that's not at all motivating, especially on a gorgeous Saturday where you are forced to be cooped up in an office with no access to even a window. Yuck!! Okay, I am going to try to make that all the complaining I do about work in this blog.
We celebrated Valentine's Day by taking a very nice trip down to Colorado Springs. I had a free hotel room that I had to use by the end of February, so we decided to use it for a weekend away in the Garden of the Gods. While we were there, we walked around Manitou Springs, walked around the Garden of the Gods, and had a wonderful dinner at The Sunbird Restaurant. The restaurant was up on the side of the mountain and overlooked the city of CS, so it was a wonderful place to enjoy the evening. The food was amazing as well. The next day we met up with my good friend Julie in Colorado City and had lunch, which was so great. I love spending time with Julie and Mike was really glad to get some time to get to know her in a smaller setting than when he'd met her before.
Last weekend was our anniversary (thank you all for the anniversary wishes/cards!) Mike spoiled me rotten with the valentine's day/anniversary gifts. He gave me a chocolate rose on valentine's day and then every day until our anniversary he gave me a present that was bigger and/or better than the day before. It was AWESOME!! My gifts included gift cards, a wallet, a massage, a mani/pedi, flowers at work, a book he made me, a magazine, a book, etc. On the last day he got me a wonderful Coach purse that I'd had my eye on. I LOVE it! For someone whos love language is gifts, this was a wonderful idea :)
The day before our anniversary we went snowshoeing with some friends up near Ward, CO. The weather was perfect and it wasn't too crowded, so it was a great trip. It was our first time snowshoeing and we both loved it. I am really looking forward to the next time we'll be able to get up there.
On our anniversary we went to Boulder and painted pottery. We decided to each paint something that reminded us of a favorite memory of our first year. Of course we both painted travel scenes-- Mike's mug had Costa Rica on it and my bowl had scenes from NYC, DC, Costa Rica, and Oregon. After pottery painting we had some sushi and then came home and relaxed. For dinner that night we went to Elway's in Cherry Creek and they brought us a special "anniversary ding dong" that had "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate on a homemade ding dong. It was really cool.
Ok, well I guess that's enough to get you caught up with what's been going on with us. I hope things are going well for you and that you'll send us an update when you can!!
Well the fact that this blog is the first since February 2nd should teach you something: I am much better about nagging Mike to do something than I am about doing it when it's my turn (this phenomenon also applies when it's my turn to empty the litter box).
I will try to sum up the past few weeks fairly briefly, though, so that our loyal readers (aka parents) don't start reading only Mike's posts. . .
I guess I can start by telling you what I've been doing lately and that is, in a word: Working. A lot. All the time. It's really very un-fun. Especially since I thought I was getting paid for overtime and found out last week that in fact I am not. So, all this extra time (60-70 hour weeks) is just volunteer work. Yay. Somehow that's not at all motivating, especially on a gorgeous Saturday where you are forced to be cooped up in an office with no access to even a window. Yuck!! Okay, I am going to try to make that all the complaining I do about work in this blog.
We celebrated Valentine's Day by taking a very nice trip down to Colorado Springs. I had a free hotel room that I had to use by the end of February, so we decided to use it for a weekend away in the Garden of the Gods. While we were there, we walked around Manitou Springs, walked around the Garden of the Gods, and had a wonderful dinner at The Sunbird Restaurant. The restaurant was up on the side of the mountain and overlooked the city of CS, so it was a wonderful place to enjoy the evening. The food was amazing as well. The next day we met up with my good friend Julie in Colorado City and had lunch, which was so great. I love spending time with Julie and Mike was really glad to get some time to get to know her in a smaller setting than when he'd met her before.
Last weekend was our anniversary (thank you all for the anniversary wishes/cards!) Mike spoiled me rotten with the valentine's day/anniversary gifts. He gave me a chocolate rose on valentine's day and then every day until our anniversary he gave me a present that was bigger and/or better than the day before. It was AWESOME!! My gifts included gift cards, a wallet, a massage, a mani/pedi, flowers at work, a book he made me, a magazine, a book, etc. On the last day he got me a wonderful Coach purse that I'd had my eye on. I LOVE it! For someone whos love language is gifts, this was a wonderful idea :)
The day before our anniversary we went snowshoeing with some friends up near Ward, CO. The weather was perfect and it wasn't too crowded, so it was a great trip. It was our first time snowshoeing and we both loved it. I am really looking forward to the next time we'll be able to get up there.
On our anniversary we went to Boulder and painted pottery. We decided to each paint something that reminded us of a favorite memory of our first year. Of course we both painted travel scenes-- Mike's mug had Costa Rica on it and my bowl had scenes from NYC, DC, Costa Rica, and Oregon. After pottery painting we had some sushi and then came home and relaxed. For dinner that night we went to Elway's in Cherry Creek and they brought us a special "anniversary ding dong" that had "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate on a homemade ding dong. It was really cool.
Ok, well I guess that's enough to get you caught up with what's been going on with us. I hope things are going well for you and that you'll send us an update when you can!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Pain and Misery, Joy and Rapture
From Mike:
Well, another couple of weeks have passed, and it’s time again for another round of updates! These past few weeks have been interesting, to say the least…
As I mentioned before, I got my wisdom teeth out on the 22nd. The surgery itself went off without a hitch, but the preparation for it was not without its brief moments of sheer terror. After arriving at the clinic (with my mom, since Kelly had to work) and being hooked up to the EKG machine (you know, the one that shows your heartbeat as a series of squiggly lines), the surgeon came in and gave me some disturbing news. Apparently the machine was showing certain heartbeat lines making a downward arc, instead of an upward arc. The surgeon informed me that this was a sign of severe heart damage and that he was going to hold off on the surgery until I could get a 12-step EKG done. Well, to add insult to injury, one of the nurses noticed that I was a bit distressed by this news and asked “Would you like mom in here? I’ll go get mom.” It was humiliating…I felt like flashing my wedding ring and saying, “I’m not 12, you retard!” Perhaps if I wasn’t wearing my “math is hard” t-shirt I would’ve gotten a little more respect…
Anyway, the surgeon noticed a few other abnormalities in my heartbeat and came to the conclusion that it was not me, but the equipment that was malfunctioning. After careful examination of the equipment, he found that the leads on the machine were plugged in backwards! To make a long story short, he correctly plugged in the leads (which miraculously healed my severe heart damage!) and performed the surgery. I spent the next few days in a drug-induced coma as I watched movies, played video games, and ate ice cream and jello. It was awesome.
Kelly has been insanely busy at work as of late, and has been putting in a lot of extra effort, and several long hours at the office. As much as she doesn’t like have to be at work, she appreciates being busy because it makes the day go by more quickly.
We have been in the process of transforming our 2nd bedroom, which is currently full of a mish-mash of random furniture, into a full-fledged office space. We moved furniture in and out of there and chose a paint color and were just about ready to get the project under way when Kelly got to thinking. Normally, when Kelly gets to thinking, it results in her having to do some serious convincing to get what she wants, but in this case, I was enthusiastically cooperative. Kelly decided that a new office space would be nice, but would be rarely used. So instead, she suggested we turn it into a game room, or what I like to call a “Man Cave.” The man cave will be a peaceful respite from the drudgery of chores and responsibility, and a place where TV, movies, and video games will be abundant and ever-present…I can’t wait.
We began the man cave transformation yesterday after we decided to purchase a new TV. This TV will replace the one currently in our living room, which will now be moved into the cave. This was an exciting development in our relationship because the first time Kelly saw my current TV, she promptly informed me that if we ever got married, we would NEVER buy a TV that was bigger than that one. Now, as it would any other man, that statement made me die a little inside. But somehow I convinced her that our TV was too small for our massive living room, and talked her into buying a 52” Sony BRAVIA LCD TV…a full 10” bigger! I think Kelly is still dumbfounded as to what possessed her to let me have a man cave…but she has definitely claimed her title as “The Best Wife Ever!”
Some friends of ours throw an annual Super Bowl party, so keeping with tradition, we went over there and enjoyed the company of a few friends while we watched the game and rooted for the Cardinals to pull off a big win. Now some of you may ask why we rooted for the underdogs? Well, for several reasons, in fact. First of all, Kelly’s mom is a diehard Cowboys fan, and the Cowboys were in a three-way tie for the most super bowl wins (5 each between the Cowboys, the 49ers, and the Steelers). Second, ever since the Steelers beat the Broncos in the 2005 AFC championship game, I’ve held a grudge. Third, the Cardinals have never won a Super Bowl, and Fourth, I work with a bunch of Steelers fans, and I basically just wanted to rub it in their faces on Monday morning. :P
Despite the final score, it was one of the better Super Bowls I’ve watched. I love it when the game is really close and it comes down to the final minutes of the game with no clear winner in sight. This was one of those games, and I eat that stuff up! Even though it was a great game, I’m always sad after the Super Bowl because it means that I have to wait 8 months for football to start up again. Oh well, here’s to hoping that the Broncos can make the playoffs next season! GO ORANGE AND BLUE!!!
Until next time, friends, God Bless!
Well, another couple of weeks have passed, and it’s time again for another round of updates! These past few weeks have been interesting, to say the least…
As I mentioned before, I got my wisdom teeth out on the 22nd. The surgery itself went off without a hitch, but the preparation for it was not without its brief moments of sheer terror. After arriving at the clinic (with my mom, since Kelly had to work) and being hooked up to the EKG machine (you know, the one that shows your heartbeat as a series of squiggly lines), the surgeon came in and gave me some disturbing news. Apparently the machine was showing certain heartbeat lines making a downward arc, instead of an upward arc. The surgeon informed me that this was a sign of severe heart damage and that he was going to hold off on the surgery until I could get a 12-step EKG done. Well, to add insult to injury, one of the nurses noticed that I was a bit distressed by this news and asked “Would you like mom in here? I’ll go get mom.” It was humiliating…I felt like flashing my wedding ring and saying, “I’m not 12, you retard!” Perhaps if I wasn’t wearing my “math is hard” t-shirt I would’ve gotten a little more respect…
Anyway, the surgeon noticed a few other abnormalities in my heartbeat and came to the conclusion that it was not me, but the equipment that was malfunctioning. After careful examination of the equipment, he found that the leads on the machine were plugged in backwards! To make a long story short, he correctly plugged in the leads (which miraculously healed my severe heart damage!) and performed the surgery. I spent the next few days in a drug-induced coma as I watched movies, played video games, and ate ice cream and jello. It was awesome.
Kelly has been insanely busy at work as of late, and has been putting in a lot of extra effort, and several long hours at the office. As much as she doesn’t like have to be at work, she appreciates being busy because it makes the day go by more quickly.
We have been in the process of transforming our 2nd bedroom, which is currently full of a mish-mash of random furniture, into a full-fledged office space. We moved furniture in and out of there and chose a paint color and were just about ready to get the project under way when Kelly got to thinking. Normally, when Kelly gets to thinking, it results in her having to do some serious convincing to get what she wants, but in this case, I was enthusiastically cooperative. Kelly decided that a new office space would be nice, but would be rarely used. So instead, she suggested we turn it into a game room, or what I like to call a “Man Cave.” The man cave will be a peaceful respite from the drudgery of chores and responsibility, and a place where TV, movies, and video games will be abundant and ever-present…I can’t wait.
We began the man cave transformation yesterday after we decided to purchase a new TV. This TV will replace the one currently in our living room, which will now be moved into the cave. This was an exciting development in our relationship because the first time Kelly saw my current TV, she promptly informed me that if we ever got married, we would NEVER buy a TV that was bigger than that one. Now, as it would any other man, that statement made me die a little inside. But somehow I convinced her that our TV was too small for our massive living room, and talked her into buying a 52” Sony BRAVIA LCD TV…a full 10” bigger! I think Kelly is still dumbfounded as to what possessed her to let me have a man cave…but she has definitely claimed her title as “The Best Wife Ever!”
Some friends of ours throw an annual Super Bowl party, so keeping with tradition, we went over there and enjoyed the company of a few friends while we watched the game and rooted for the Cardinals to pull off a big win. Now some of you may ask why we rooted for the underdogs? Well, for several reasons, in fact. First of all, Kelly’s mom is a diehard Cowboys fan, and the Cowboys were in a three-way tie for the most super bowl wins (5 each between the Cowboys, the 49ers, and the Steelers). Second, ever since the Steelers beat the Broncos in the 2005 AFC championship game, I’ve held a grudge. Third, the Cardinals have never won a Super Bowl, and Fourth, I work with a bunch of Steelers fans, and I basically just wanted to rub it in their faces on Monday morning. :P
Despite the final score, it was one of the better Super Bowls I’ve watched. I love it when the game is really close and it comes down to the final minutes of the game with no clear winner in sight. This was one of those games, and I eat that stuff up! Even though it was a great game, I’m always sad after the Super Bowl because it means that I have to wait 8 months for football to start up again. Oh well, here’s to hoping that the Broncos can make the playoffs next season! GO ORANGE AND BLUE!!!
Until next time, friends, God Bless!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Ushering in a New Era With my BFFs (2 million of them)
From Kelly:
Where to begin? I guess I could sum up the trip by saying that it was awesome, but that would be a big, undescriptive understatement. SO, I guess I'll just tell you what happened. . .
Mike and I arrived late on Friday, dropped off our stuff with Mikey's doorman (who almost didn't let us in because of a mix up with the admit cards), and headed down to meet up with the rest of our friends at an "Inaugural Throwdown" party at an art gallery downtown. This was a really fun place to be because everyone was so excited to get the weekend started. They had an Obama life-size cut out and we had a lot of fun posing for pictures.
Saturday we took it pretty easy-- went for lunch near Nathan and Emily's apartment and then went downtown to a South American place where we tried some plantain chips and guacamole, which were excellent. We also looked around at some of the historic sites and had cupcakes. On Saturday night we went out to a cute bar in Arlington and had a pretty low-key day overall-- mainly just catching up and talking about the night before.
On Sunday, we headed downtown to go to the Lincoln Memorial for the HBO We Are One concert. Before the concert I needed to go pick up the inauguration tickets that Tony had won from Nancy Pelosi. When I got to the office it was surprisingly calm and easy to get the tickets. There was a whole spread of refreshments and all I had to do was show them my ID and give them Tony's name and we were in! It was great! I felt so lucky to be one of the few people who would have a ticket to the actual inuguration and was so happy Tony had chosen to take me with him!
After we got the tickets, Mike and I headed down to the concert. It was a pretty fun walk actually because we got to get our first real glimpse of all the people who had gathered for the inauguration-- most of them African America. There were vendors lining the streets selling every type of tacky, busy item you could think of-- buttons, posters, hats, gloves, earrings, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. It was truly American capitalism at it's finest. . .or tackiest. Every once in awhile a motorcade would go by and everyone would stop to watch it, even though you couldn't see through any of the windows.
When we got to the concert, our friends had saved us a spot. The concert was so amazing. All of the performers were so great and there were so many big names that you never knew who was going to be up next. It was like one big surprise the whole time. I thought the best performer was John Cougar Melloncamp and I was most excited to see Steve Carrell as a speaker. I guess you can watch the concert for free if you go to HBO's website. The concert was also really fun because everyone was so happy and upbeat eventhough it was really cold outside. One woman came by wearing a quilt she had made and was having everyone sign it. During one of the songs, a group of guys next to us put their arms around each other and were singing together. During another song, a group of random people formed a big ring and were singing and hugging. One guy was so excited when Beyonce came on that he was jumping around and screaming like a teenage girl. When they played "lean on me", the spirit of comradery continued as everyone danced and sang together. It really was an amazing experience.
After the concert, we fought the crowds of traffic to a bar north of Georgetown where we played in a flip cup tournament. This was the most disorganized, crowded event I'd ever been to and both me and Emily were getting so frustrated with the whole thing that we were ready to leave after the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately for Tony, he met us there straight from the airport and happened to catch me in a very cranky mood-- not a very warm reception for my ticket benefactor. But, we soon gave up on trying to participate in the tournament and decided to just play against each other and had a lot more fun. I cheered up quickly and was much happier. I guess I don't play well with others. :)
Monday was another somewhat relaxing day. Emily and I went to lunch and then got manis/pedis while Tony, Beth and Mike went to the Spy Museum. After I met up with them, we went to the portrait gallery and I saw one of my favorite pictures, which I had seen before, but still strikes me. It's the picture of LBJ being inaugurated with Jackie standing next to him, just two hours after JFK was killed. It's just such full of such emotion and history and humanity-- i love it.
Monday night most of our group went to the South Carolina inaugural ball. Tony, Mike, me, and Beth went to get drinks downtown and then went to dinner at this awesome place called Central. I had steak au poivre with onion carbonara that was just melt in your mouth good. We also had some ceviche that was delightful. The BEST part, though, was a banana split that I had for dessert. It was made with homemade ice cream and the bananas were all doctored up with caramel and chocolate and almonds. . . YUM!!!
On Tuesday, the real fun began. . . EARLY! Tony woke me up at 5:30am (I had talked him down from waking me up at 4am, though I basically laid awake starting at 3:30am because I was so worried about being late!) We walked down to the Metro station and got some snacks at the CVS. After we loaded up on yummies, we went down to the metro, not sure what to expect. The train was not as crowded as it could have been, though, and after one stop enough people got off that we even got seats. When we arrived downtown, we walked toward the capitol--hoping for some direction--but no direction ever came. We were armed with a map of where we were supposed to go and Tony's blackberry, so we thought we'd be in good shape. Soon, though, we were stuck in gridlock-- a group of people so smashed together you hardly had to hold yourself up and your feet didn't have to touch the ground for you to stay upright. It didn't take us long to realize that we had to get out of this mess. Then, some bike police came through and the crowd moved out of the way, so we followed behind and wiggled our way out. Freedom never felt so good! We walked around a different way, found the gates, stood in line, and eventually made it in. It turned out that we'd made pretty good time and we got a spot in our section that was only about 5-7 people deep.
During the inauguration, we had a great spot and it was nice to stand and talk to the people around us-- everyone was so excited and so happy to be there. A woman next to me was talking to her son in Iraq and had a man near us take all of our pictures so her son would be able to see all the people she'd met. It really was amazing how everyone was so friendly and happy all weekend long. There were some famous people in the crowd and, though I didn't really see them, I am going to count it since Tony did :) Here's the list (that I can think of right now): Tim Robbins, Jesse Jackson, Mariah Carey, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Wyclef, Common, etc. Unfortunately, I was the shortest person there it seemed like and I couldn't see very well over the people around us. I could hear everything well, though, and when the program started it was amazing-- we said the Lord's prayer with millions of other people and listened to some amazing music and were present for the swearing in of the first African American president!! Pretty cool!! The scariest part, though, was that I didn't hear Obama finish the oath and all the sudden there were cannons going off and I didn't know why! Needless to say, I was a bit startled :)
After the inauguration we figured we'd better start heading home because who knew how long it would take and I had a hair appointment :) We knew there was no way the metro would be feasible, so we decided to just walk. When we were still near the capital, Bush's helicopter flew away. Were standing right under him when they took off. We waved goodbye. The distance to Nate and Emily's was about 4 miles, so not too bad. Along the way we tried to get a drink at Starbucks, but it took us three tries to find on that didn't have a line out the door. When we finally did get our drinks, we found a table and sat down for the first time in about 7 hours. It felt great! By the time we made it to Georgetown our resolve had worn off a bit (it was FREEZING), so we saw an empty cab and decided to take advantage.
When we got back to the apartment, we talked with Nathan and Emily a bit about their experience and then I started getting ready for the ball. I had a hair appt. with Emily's sister who gave me an awesome updo for the ball! I returned from the salon, finished getting ready and we were off.
The ball we attended was called the Garden State Inaugural Gala and was held at the Washington Court Hotel. The cab could only get as close as about six blocks away because of all the street closures and then we walked the rest of the way. It was ten degrees out and those were the coldest blocks I think I've ever walked! I seriously thought my legs (which were bare because I was wearing my ball gown) would be blue by the time we arrived.
But, when we arrived at the hotel, all was well. The hotel was gorgeous and the ball was held downstairs in eight different rooms with bars and food spread all around. The main bar was made of ice! When we arrived we were given casino "money" and then we headed straight for the food (We'd been up since 5:30 and hadn't had anything to eat). Tony and I spent the rest of the night playing casino games (roulette and blackjack), dancing (they had a Bruce Springstein cover band that was actually really good), and talking. After the ball, we (barely) got our coats back from coat check and grabbed our goodie bags (filled with an engraved frame and a Spongebob digital thermometer-- random). On the cab ride home we were sorry the night was over, but I don't think it took me longer than 2 minutes to fall asleep when my head hit the couch. It had been a long day!
At the airport the next day, I was glad that I'd decided to leave early. The lines were INSANE- as in the kind of lines that had warranted news crews being dispatched. Of course the genius airline I'd chosen (US Airways) had ONE counter open and so the line snaked halfway around the terminal. They also had some employees there who clearly didn't usually work there and I had to explain to two of them how to do their jobs. It was a spectacle for sure. I was so out of it, though, from being totally sleep deprived that I just put on my earphones and zoned out. In fact, that's how I spent most of the day-- listening to music, reading the Washington Post, and trying to drown out everyone talking about how annoyed they were by the lines. It was kind of nice to be in my own little world for the day. . .
So, all in all I would say it was an awesome weekend. It would have been amazing just to go to the concert, it would have been amazing just to go to the inauguration, it would have been amazing just to go to a ball, it would have been amazing just to spend the whole weekend with my best friends in the whole world. But, the fact that I got to do all these things in the span of just a few days? Well, that was something for which I am so thankful. I'm still smiling just thinking about it. :)
Where to begin? I guess I could sum up the trip by saying that it was awesome, but that would be a big, undescriptive understatement. SO, I guess I'll just tell you what happened. . .
Mike and I arrived late on Friday, dropped off our stuff with Mikey's doorman (who almost didn't let us in because of a mix up with the admit cards), and headed down to meet up with the rest of our friends at an "Inaugural Throwdown" party at an art gallery downtown. This was a really fun place to be because everyone was so excited to get the weekend started. They had an Obama life-size cut out and we had a lot of fun posing for pictures.
Saturday we took it pretty easy-- went for lunch near Nathan and Emily's apartment and then went downtown to a South American place where we tried some plantain chips and guacamole, which were excellent. We also looked around at some of the historic sites and had cupcakes. On Saturday night we went out to a cute bar in Arlington and had a pretty low-key day overall-- mainly just catching up and talking about the night before.
On Sunday, we headed downtown to go to the Lincoln Memorial for the HBO We Are One concert. Before the concert I needed to go pick up the inauguration tickets that Tony had won from Nancy Pelosi. When I got to the office it was surprisingly calm and easy to get the tickets. There was a whole spread of refreshments and all I had to do was show them my ID and give them Tony's name and we were in! It was great! I felt so lucky to be one of the few people who would have a ticket to the actual inuguration and was so happy Tony had chosen to take me with him!
After we got the tickets, Mike and I headed down to the concert. It was a pretty fun walk actually because we got to get our first real glimpse of all the people who had gathered for the inauguration-- most of them African America. There were vendors lining the streets selling every type of tacky, busy item you could think of-- buttons, posters, hats, gloves, earrings, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. It was truly American capitalism at it's finest. . .or tackiest. Every once in awhile a motorcade would go by and everyone would stop to watch it, even though you couldn't see through any of the windows.
When we got to the concert, our friends had saved us a spot. The concert was so amazing. All of the performers were so great and there were so many big names that you never knew who was going to be up next. It was like one big surprise the whole time. I thought the best performer was John Cougar Melloncamp and I was most excited to see Steve Carrell as a speaker. I guess you can watch the concert for free if you go to HBO's website. The concert was also really fun because everyone was so happy and upbeat eventhough it was really cold outside. One woman came by wearing a quilt she had made and was having everyone sign it. During one of the songs, a group of guys next to us put their arms around each other and were singing together. During another song, a group of random people formed a big ring and were singing and hugging. One guy was so excited when Beyonce came on that he was jumping around and screaming like a teenage girl. When they played "lean on me", the spirit of comradery continued as everyone danced and sang together. It really was an amazing experience.
After the concert, we fought the crowds of traffic to a bar north of Georgetown where we played in a flip cup tournament. This was the most disorganized, crowded event I'd ever been to and both me and Emily were getting so frustrated with the whole thing that we were ready to leave after the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately for Tony, he met us there straight from the airport and happened to catch me in a very cranky mood-- not a very warm reception for my ticket benefactor. But, we soon gave up on trying to participate in the tournament and decided to just play against each other and had a lot more fun. I cheered up quickly and was much happier. I guess I don't play well with others. :)
Monday was another somewhat relaxing day. Emily and I went to lunch and then got manis/pedis while Tony, Beth and Mike went to the Spy Museum. After I met up with them, we went to the portrait gallery and I saw one of my favorite pictures, which I had seen before, but still strikes me. It's the picture of LBJ being inaugurated with Jackie standing next to him, just two hours after JFK was killed. It's just such full of such emotion and history and humanity-- i love it.
Monday night most of our group went to the South Carolina inaugural ball. Tony, Mike, me, and Beth went to get drinks downtown and then went to dinner at this awesome place called Central. I had steak au poivre with onion carbonara that was just melt in your mouth good. We also had some ceviche that was delightful. The BEST part, though, was a banana split that I had for dessert. It was made with homemade ice cream and the bananas were all doctored up with caramel and chocolate and almonds. . . YUM!!!
On Tuesday, the real fun began. . . EARLY! Tony woke me up at 5:30am (I had talked him down from waking me up at 4am, though I basically laid awake starting at 3:30am because I was so worried about being late!) We walked down to the Metro station and got some snacks at the CVS. After we loaded up on yummies, we went down to the metro, not sure what to expect. The train was not as crowded as it could have been, though, and after one stop enough people got off that we even got seats. When we arrived downtown, we walked toward the capitol--hoping for some direction--but no direction ever came. We were armed with a map of where we were supposed to go and Tony's blackberry, so we thought we'd be in good shape. Soon, though, we were stuck in gridlock-- a group of people so smashed together you hardly had to hold yourself up and your feet didn't have to touch the ground for you to stay upright. It didn't take us long to realize that we had to get out of this mess. Then, some bike police came through and the crowd moved out of the way, so we followed behind and wiggled our way out. Freedom never felt so good! We walked around a different way, found the gates, stood in line, and eventually made it in. It turned out that we'd made pretty good time and we got a spot in our section that was only about 5-7 people deep.
During the inauguration, we had a great spot and it was nice to stand and talk to the people around us-- everyone was so excited and so happy to be there. A woman next to me was talking to her son in Iraq and had a man near us take all of our pictures so her son would be able to see all the people she'd met. It really was amazing how everyone was so friendly and happy all weekend long. There were some famous people in the crowd and, though I didn't really see them, I am going to count it since Tony did :) Here's the list (that I can think of right now): Tim Robbins, Jesse Jackson, Mariah Carey, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Wyclef, Common, etc. Unfortunately, I was the shortest person there it seemed like and I couldn't see very well over the people around us. I could hear everything well, though, and when the program started it was amazing-- we said the Lord's prayer with millions of other people and listened to some amazing music and were present for the swearing in of the first African American president!! Pretty cool!! The scariest part, though, was that I didn't hear Obama finish the oath and all the sudden there were cannons going off and I didn't know why! Needless to say, I was a bit startled :)
After the inauguration we figured we'd better start heading home because who knew how long it would take and I had a hair appointment :) We knew there was no way the metro would be feasible, so we decided to just walk. When we were still near the capital, Bush's helicopter flew away. Were standing right under him when they took off. We waved goodbye. The distance to Nate and Emily's was about 4 miles, so not too bad. Along the way we tried to get a drink at Starbucks, but it took us three tries to find on that didn't have a line out the door. When we finally did get our drinks, we found a table and sat down for the first time in about 7 hours. It felt great! By the time we made it to Georgetown our resolve had worn off a bit (it was FREEZING), so we saw an empty cab and decided to take advantage.
When we got back to the apartment, we talked with Nathan and Emily a bit about their experience and then I started getting ready for the ball. I had a hair appt. with Emily's sister who gave me an awesome updo for the ball! I returned from the salon, finished getting ready and we were off.
The ball we attended was called the Garden State Inaugural Gala and was held at the Washington Court Hotel. The cab could only get as close as about six blocks away because of all the street closures and then we walked the rest of the way. It was ten degrees out and those were the coldest blocks I think I've ever walked! I seriously thought my legs (which were bare because I was wearing my ball gown) would be blue by the time we arrived.
But, when we arrived at the hotel, all was well. The hotel was gorgeous and the ball was held downstairs in eight different rooms with bars and food spread all around. The main bar was made of ice! When we arrived we were given casino "money" and then we headed straight for the food (We'd been up since 5:30 and hadn't had anything to eat). Tony and I spent the rest of the night playing casino games (roulette and blackjack), dancing (they had a Bruce Springstein cover band that was actually really good), and talking. After the ball, we (barely) got our coats back from coat check and grabbed our goodie bags (filled with an engraved frame and a Spongebob digital thermometer-- random). On the cab ride home we were sorry the night was over, but I don't think it took me longer than 2 minutes to fall asleep when my head hit the couch. It had been a long day!
At the airport the next day, I was glad that I'd decided to leave early. The lines were INSANE- as in the kind of lines that had warranted news crews being dispatched. Of course the genius airline I'd chosen (US Airways) had ONE counter open and so the line snaked halfway around the terminal. They also had some employees there who clearly didn't usually work there and I had to explain to two of them how to do their jobs. It was a spectacle for sure. I was so out of it, though, from being totally sleep deprived that I just put on my earphones and zoned out. In fact, that's how I spent most of the day-- listening to music, reading the Washington Post, and trying to drown out everyone talking about how annoyed they were by the lines. It was kind of nice to be in my own little world for the day. . .
So, all in all I would say it was an awesome weekend. It would have been amazing just to go to the concert, it would have been amazing just to go to the inauguration, it would have been amazing just to go to a ball, it would have been amazing just to spend the whole weekend with my best friends in the whole world. But, the fact that I got to do all these things in the span of just a few days? Well, that was something for which I am so thankful. I'm still smiling just thinking about it. :)
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